The main objective of the SUBE program is to provide opportunities to investigators-professors and students of the UPR, Rio Piedras for research and creativity in the bio-medical sciences and their related areas. One aim is to permit young investigators to establish a research presence and to begin to compete and, possibly, enter the mainstream of science. Those, as well as more established investigators, will prepare graduate and undergraduate Puerto Rican students, many with social, educational, and culturally limited backgrounds, to compete on a more equal level in science with students from mainstream institutions. This research program provides the students of the UPR, Rio Piedras, opportunities for research in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics. The program, thus, allows young, beginning faculty to get a good start in their research programs and also allows established investigators the opportunity to pursue their research in a more vigorous manner. At the same time, the program offers undergraduate students the chance to work with established investigators. Furthermore, through the program's support, graduate students work towards their degrees becoming active participants in funded research.